


Apologies

by Heloflor



Category: Milo Murphy's Law
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:02:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28988943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heloflor/pseuds/Heloflor
Summary: “You wiped my memory !”“To protect you ! Look, can we talk about this later ?”“You were only thinking about yourself…”
Relationships: Balthazar Cavendish/Vinnie Dakota
Comments: 9
Kudos: 33





	Apologies

**Author's Note:**

> Just something I wanted to write due to how I feel like Cavendish didn’t earn Dakota’s pardon, given how much of a mess Dakota was compared to Cavendish not being seen having any regrets aside from the teddy bear at the end of “Abducting Murphy’s Law” (I’m 100% going to write some kind of essay on Tumblr about Cavendish’s arc in this season). And yes, this is yet another fic about Cavendish going rogue (I think this one is actually the first one I wrote. You can tell because the 'married couple’ part isn’t directly said).  
> Like for my other fics, the two are an old married couple. Enjoy !

It was about nighttime on earth and Milo’s group was still in space. After saving Octalia, the group had been given a new ship, with five other ships piloted by the Octalians as backup. But so far, things were going smoothly with no major incident, which was a relief for Balthazar. Now aware of his track record of not staying alive, he would rather avoid any unexpected disaster, especially so late at night.

With the late hour and the action from earlier, the group was starting to feel sleep fall upon them. Milo and his two friends were drifting off to sleep, sitting against a wall and each other with Diogee at their foot. Professor Ti- Doofenshmirtz was curled up in a ball on the ground, resembling a sleeping cat, with Perry in his arms. The platypus seemed to have wished to guard the man, only for his future time partner to grab him in his sleep.

And speaking of time partners…

Balthazar looked around, seeing no-one else aside from the kids, the professor and that hybrid of himself with his new baby, sleeping in a corner that Balthazar was trying to avoid looking at. He scanned the ship until he saw what looked like the entrance of another room. Trying not to feel uneasy by the similitude with the other ship, knowing full well what happened last time he tried to explore, Balthazar made sure that the ship was on autopilot and went to the other room.

As he expected, Vinnie was there, sitting against the entrance’s wall, his head resting on his knees while his arms were hugging his legs. While his eyes were closed, Balthazar could tell that he wasn’t sleeping.

“Dakota ?”

The shorter man opened his eyes, slowly giving a lazy smile as he glanced at the other man.

“Hey.”

“Why aren’t you with the others ?”, Balthazar asked.

“I just wanted some space.”, Vinnie shrugged.

Balthazar didn’t respond, not knowing what to say, and started looking around, glancing at his partner every few seconds. He could tell from his posture that something was bothering the shorter man. Vinnie didn’t recoil often, and he seemed tense. Eventually, Balthazar couldn’t take the silence anymore and decided to make small talk.

“So. It seems we’ve saved the world yet again.”

“Yeah. And nobody on earth saw us do it. Again.”

“I…”, the idea never dawned on Balthazar during his time on Octalia, and the realization hit him like a ton of bricks. Unless he could show P.I.G. one of the ships, which was very unlikely with Milo around, he was back to square one. “Sadly, you’re correct.”, he sighed.

“So what are you going to do now ?”, Vinnie continued, his voice sharper. “Go rogue and leave again ?”

Balthazar immediately looked at his partner. The shorter man was looking down with the same upset expression as when they first reunited. Balthazar felt a pang of guilt that his pride tried to repress. Didn’t they make up already ?

“I told you already, I’m sorry.”, he tried not to sound annoyed. Vinnie seemed upset enough. “What I did was foolish.”

“It sure was.”, the shorter man replied like it was a fact.

“Why are we even talking about this ? I thought you forgave me !”, he was starting to actually get annoyed.

“I didn’t forgive you ! I was _happy_ to see you. It was my _relief_ talking.”

Balthazar had a reply that died down before it came out. There was no point in arguing about it, or at least not now when they were both too tired to make sense. So instead, the taller man hmphed and went back to inspect the room. For a good five minutes, the couple fell silent, until Vinnie spoke up again in a softer tone.

“You could’ve died.”

“Excuse me ?”, Balthazar asked, stepping closer to Vinnie to hear him. The shorter man looked much sadder and tired, hugging his knees tightly while looking at the ground.

“There was just so many ways you could’ve died. Murdered, ran by a car, mauled by a bear, crushed by a falling tree, falling deadly ill, abducted by evil aliens, stung to death, struck by lightning, ”

Balthazar froze as Vinnie just kept going on and on, making the list of a hundred different ways one could die. Just how many of those truly happened ?

“Dakot-“

“I thought about it. Every single night I stayed awake, imagining all the things that could kill you. And for the past week I thought you really _were_ dead.”

“…Dakota…”, Balthazar crouched in front of his partner, his hands grabbing the shorter man’s shoulders. “Dakota I’m so sorry. I haven’t thought…I- I haven’t considered this.”

“Of course you didn’t. You were too obsessed with your want to save the world to consider how I was feeling.”, Vinnie was glancing away.

“I…I did. And it was foolish. I’m sorry Dakota, I truly am. Believe me, I never wished to hurt you.”

His partner didn’t reply. Balthazar sighed sadly and went to sit next to him.

“I missed you dearly, you know.”, he tried. “I felt so alone without you…”

It was Vinnie’s turn to sigh. “Look Cavendish. I- I don’t _want_ to be mad at you. I’m not angry at you. I just…you just have no idea how _terrible_ I felt ! It’s like you don’t even care !”

“I…”, the taller man had to stop himself from arguing about that last thought. Of course he cared about Vinnie ! More than anything in the world ! It wasn’t his fault if his partner was so paranoid !

Alright, maybe it was _partly_ his fault. But still ! “Well…maybe you worry too much ?”

“I found you frozen in an ice cube.”, the shorter man deadpanned.

“I…”, Balthazar sighed. “I know…”

They fell silent again, Balthazar guilt growing with every passing second. Tentatively, he put a hand on his partner’s shoulder, rubbing gently. After a few minutes, Vinnie’s hand joined his, their fingers interlocking.

“I thought I’d never see you again.”, Vinnie whispered.

“That was never my intention.”, the taller man tried to reassure. “I didn’t want to leave you, especially for so long. I thought it would only take me a few days. And with how you refused to support me…”, he sighed again. “I should have listened to you.”

“You should’ve.”

“…You know I love you, right ? I never meant to hurt you.”

“Well you sure have a weird way of showing it sometimes.”, despite what he was saying, Vinnie was starting to get his smile back. This made the taller man hopeful.

The couple smiled at each other until Vinnie pulled in closer, a hand on his partner’s back and another on his shoulder. Balthazar returned the gesture, cupping Vinnie’s cheek and slowly lifting his sunglasses, knowing that the light was dimmed enough not to hurt his eyes. He gazed into Vinnie’s peculiar eyes until the shorter man pulled closer and kissed him.

“I love you.”, Vinnie whispered as they pulled away.

“I missed you.”, Balthazar replied with his own whisper. “And I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

They stayed in each other’s arms, enjoying the other’s presence after a month of separation. A part of Balthazar stayed alert in case somebody was to walk in, following the habit he had for eighteen years of hiding his relationship in any time period that wasn’t his present.

They still had a lot to say, still had a few fresh wounds to patch. But for now, being together was all that mattered.


End file.
